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The year 2011 began with Highland Park digging out from a late December blizzard, beginning another snowy winter. The long-awaited Raritan Avenue sidewalk improvements finally began, a popular teacher was jailed for sex crimes, and controversy surrounded a proposed charter school. Arts and culture continued to flourish, and the Occupy movement inspired local activism and participation.

Mayor Stephen Nolan announced in April that he would not seek re-election, and Councilman Gary Minkoff received the local Democratic Committee’s support for mayor. Supporters of Council President Elsie Foster-Dublin mounted a last-minute write-in campaign in the June primary, but Minkoff won easily and was the only candidate in November's general election.

The $21.5 million school budget passed in April. Five candidates ran for four seats on the Board of Education. Incumbents Greg Deatz and Chandra Pointer-Titus, running as a slate with newcomers Daniel J. Ross and Jessie Hughes, triumphed over Joshua Fine.

Highland Park lost several prominent community members, including Leigh Davis, a leader in the Edible Gardens Project and member of Sustainable Highland Park and Central Jersey People’s Organization for Progress; former Councilman Bruce Kuczynski, who served from 1993 to 2001; Environmental Commission member Dr. Joan Ehrenfeld; and tailor Dominic Crisafulli, owner of DiMarco Tailors.

The borough was buffeted by extreme weather in this rainy year, including snow and ice storms, a minor earthquake and Hurricane Irene in August, and a rare October snowstorm that toppled branches all over town. The snowy winter and rainy fall forced the borough to spend tens of thousands of dollars in overtime costs for Public Works. The summer saw many days of extreme heat, and in response, the Senior/Youth Center was made available as a “cooling center” for those without air conditioning.

For the first time in five years, Highland Park High School hosted a conference track and field meet in April. The school’s athletic complex had been in poor condition and spent several years undergoing renovations. The move back home gave more visibility to the track program, according to coach Keith Roig, who also manages a recreational program through the borough.

The most heated controversy this year has been the proposed Tikun Olam Hebrew language charter school. Speak Up Highland Park, a group opposed to the diversion of money from our school district to charter schools, spent the year actively campaigning against the application, which was denied for the third time this year. The charter's organizers filed a fourth application, this time due to be decided by late January.

Opposition to the charter school by residents received television and newspaper coverage throughout 2011. In June, several state legislators, including Senator Barbara Buono, attended a rally in town sponsored by Speak Up Highland Park. The Board of Education enacted Hebrew language classes and kosher lunches in district schools, and also plans to join a state program that allows students from other towns to attend schools in Highland Park.

In September, police shot and killed two pitbulls that were running loose without leashes in the block next to Irving Primary School's playground. One of the pitbulls had attacked a terrier, and the other had made a threatening move when approached by police. No one was injured in the incidents, but police considered bringing charges against the dogs’ owners.

Local karate instructor and part-time public school teacher Joel Levy was arrested in March, on charges of inappropriate sexual contact with an underage girl and with sexually assaulting a second underage girl. In exchange for a three-year prison sentence and lifelong probation, Levy pleaded guilty to both crimes. The girls had been students at his karate school.

Highland Park marked the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with a candlelight vigil, a memorial service, and a showing of the film “Rebirth” chronicling the lives of five people directly affected by the tragedy.

The arts continued to flourish, with the Library sponsoring concerts for children and adults, an International Film Festival, a films of the forties festival, and monthly displays by local visual artists. Highland Park Dance, the Highland Park Artists’ Collective, the Highland Park Community Chorus, the Highland Park Recorder Society, Artists Now, and the Arts Commission continued sponsoring visual, dance and performing arts events. Signature events such as the Street Fair, Arts in the Park, and Open Studio Day proved as popular as ever. After the Farmer’s Market closed in November, its site was transformed into an Artisan Market for December, featuring various craft items.

The borough welcomed several new businesses, among them restaurants Shawarma Express and The Italian Bistro, clothing store The Covered Girl, and eclectic boutiques Pure Light and Peace, Love & Stuff. Fans of the Centerpiece gifts gallery were cheered to see that business re-open within the showroom of White Lotus Home. Anna’s Health Food Store became Greentopia after a change of ownership, and Cleo's Bagel Dish re-opened as Ruthie's Bagels.

Inspire Me Fit, Through the Moongate, and Over the Moon Toys moved to new locations in town, while the anchor restaurant formerly operating as Charlie Brown's Steakhouse attempted a very brief resuscitation as The Meeting Point before folding for good in October. Park Decorating Center, Lifetyme Photos, Zeina Restaurant, Highland Print Center, JB Financial Planners, and the local UPS Store were among the other casualties of the Great Recession's fourth lackluster year.

Streetscape improvements on Raritan Avenue, including new pavement and sidewalks, outdoor furniture, and pedestrian lighting, continue as the year ends.

Main Street director James McCrone went to England on a sabbatical; his position is currently filled by longtime Main Street volunteer Paul Lanaris.

Beginning in September, the Borough Council reduced residential garbage collection from twice to once a week. Recycling was increased from twice a month to once a week. The reduction in garbage collection received a mixed reaction, with some residents asking to go back to twice a week collections during the summer.

Pulte Homes, developer of the former Cenacle site, had initially promised to save the historic Cenacle House but demolished it after being unable to find anyone to maintain the building. Having no affordable housing plan with the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), the borough is facing Builders’ Remedy lawsuits for two large properties on Cleveland Avenue. Plans for the developments, totaling 323 housing units, were presented at a public meeting in September.

While many Cleveland Avenue residents oppose one or both projects because of the inevitable increase in traffic they will bring, the lawsuit means that approval will be in the hands of a court-appointed professional planner. No final decisions have yet been made.

Sustainable Highland Park moved forward on “It’s In Our Power,” a plan to encourage residents and businesses to obtain energy audits to determine their carbon footprints and find ways to reduce them. The effort is funded by an EPA grant, with a goal to conduct 400 energy audits in town.

For the second year in a row, Sustainable Highland Park's Earth Fair combined with the Health Fair sponsored by the borough Board of Health. This year’s event was dedicated to the memories of organizers Vickie White (1963 - 2009) and Leigh Davis (1958 - 2011).

 

Highland Park activists, working in conjunction with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), convinced the Board of Education to cancel its contract with Sodexo, a provider of food and maintenance services, over poor working conditions, low wages, lack of health insurance, and opposition to workers unionizing.

Socially conscious residents held a 24-hour vigil and fast opposing the deportation of Indonesian immigrants seeking asylum, and rallied behind police in the wake of vandalism aimed at Jewish-owned businesses. Volunteers supported the local Food Pantry, worked at reconstructing the Irving School playground, and began a native plant pocket-park on North Fourth Avenue.

Hopefully, our town can look forward to the same spirit of generosity, volunteerism, and community as we enter 2012. Happy New Year!